The organization focuses on 3 interrelated and interdependent ecologies on planet Earth - the natural, human, and digital ecologies. In order for any one to survive, all must thrive symbiotically. Part of the organization's mission to ensure
ecological sustainability is to ensure that each ecology is operating in-balance and efficiently and remains in equilibrium with the other ecologies.

But AgriProtein, a South African farming company, has a solution. AgriProtein produces MagMeal — animal feed that is made from fly larvae that feeds on waste. The benefit of MagMeal is two-fold: It offers a sustainable, natural source of protein for farmed animals (there's no shortage of flies), and at the same time, helps to eliminate garbage.

“It is not different from what already happens in nature,” Jason Drew, the founder and director of AgriProtein told Business Insider UK. “The anomaly is what we do now — 30% of the fish we take is not consumed by humans, but rather fed to fishes or chickens. I mean, if ! a chicke n was meant to eat fish it would be called a seagull."

AgriProtein, founded in 2009, started building its first industrial-scale factory in May 2014. The plant, which can house more than 8 billion flies and produce 22 tons of larvae every day, is set to open next month, according to Drew.

After a few days, before they become flies, the larvae are collected, washed, and pressurised into MagMeal, which can be delivered to chicken barns and fish farms.

Opening a new fly farm costs about £5.2 million ($8 million), but the investment would be amortised very quickly since the operational costs are low. AgriProtein already has an agreement with Cape Town’s waste disposal agency, helping them to sort out what to do with the garbage of a city of four million.

AgriProtein raised £7.15 million ($11 million) from private backers like Twynam and s.Oliver to help build its latest commercial farm.

The future of the food industry

A native Yorkshireman, Drew moved to South Africa in 2003. Five years later, he quit his job as manager to dedicate his career to the environment.

Now, Drew calls himself an &ld! quo;envi ronmental capitalist.”

“The industrial revolution is over, and the sustainability revolution has begun," Drew says. "During the industrial revolution you either were environmentalist or a capitalist, and you couldn’t be both. But I am a capitalist and an environmentalist the same time."

He adds: "I am in the business to make millions, but I want to defend the environment. The sustainability revolution can be both: the environmentalists needs to understand that they must follow the market, or otherwise they will fail, and the markets need to understand that if you are a businessman who doesn’t understand the environment you will fail.”

Drew has written two books with one more, "The Environmental Capitalist," set to arrive in April. Drew also spoke about his flies at TEDx and Creative Innovation.

Although AgriProtein has approval in South Africa, it is still banned in Europe due to a regulation introduced during the mad cow disease epidemic that prohibits the feeding of livestock with processed meat. MagMeal falls into this category! .

The new farm, located about 120 kilometres north of Cape Town, will be joined by another South African facility later this year.

“We are in talks to license our technology abroad," Drew says. "We want to bring fly farming to the US, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. In 15 years, we could have 40 to 45 of these farms worldwide.”